Welt tempering mechanism for shoe sewing machines



4 Sheets-Sheet l F. ASHWORTH Filed June 12, 1950 WELT TEMPERING MECHANISM FOR SHOE SEWING MACHINES Nov. 27, 1934.

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F. ASHWORTH 1,981,940

WELT

TEMPERING MECHANISM FOR SHOE SEWING MACHINES Filed June 12, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jay. 2

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WELT TEMPERING MECHANISM FOR SHOE SEWING MACHINES Filed June 12, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Nov. 27, 1934. F, ASHWORTH WELT TEMPERING MECHANISM FOR SHOE SEWING MACHINES Filed June 12, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 jvelziar Wine-1.:

Patented Nov. 27, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WELT TEMPERING MECHANISM FOR SHOE SEWING MACHINES Application June 12, 1930, Serial No. 460,697

12 Claims.

The present invention relates to welt wetting and tempering devices adapted for use in connection with welt sewing machines, and more particularly to that type of device, examples of which are disclosed in the patent to Harry Lyon No. 1,848,960, dated March 8, 1932, and in applicants Patent No. 1,866,003, dated July 5, 1932 in which type of device the welt, in its passage to the stitch forming mechanism of the welt shoe sewing machine, is caused to pass into and through a body of moistening or tempering liquid in such manner that only the portion of the welt at and adjacent the bevel and the groove is wetted.

The desirability of tempering the welt before attaching it to the upper of a welt shoe and the advantage of confining the Wetting of the welt for tempering purposes to the surfaces of the inner or grooved margin of the welt are fully set forth in said patents.

The object of the invention is to produce a device of the type above referred to having an improved and simplified construction and arrangement of parts whereby the movements of welt guiding devices into and out of a position in which the welt is immersed are controlled in a more convenient and efficient manner, whereby a new piece of welting may be more easily and quickly threaded through the guiding means of the device, and whereby one size or style of welting may be readily substituted for welting of another size or style.

With the above objects in view, a feature of the invention contemplates the provision of a plurality of independent interchangeable welt guides adapted to be alternatively mounted in welt guiding position with relation to the receptacle containing moistening liquid. By the provision of a plurality of welt guides, each guide may be formed or adjusted to fit a particular style or size of welt so that after their original formation or adjustment, no further adjustment of the guides will be required. Also, these guides may be threaded with the different kinds of welting which are to be used and thus a change of welting can be made by the operator at any time without any delay.

Another feature of the invention contemplates the provision of means for heating the moistening liquid. It has been learned that the flesh side of the welt, when immersed into the moistening liquid has a tendency to repel the liquid. It has also been learned, however, that by heating the moistening liquid, the tendency of the welt to repel it is greatly reduced, and the time required for sufficiently tempering the welt is diminished, No

fixed degree of heat is required but a temperature of 150 to 160 degrees Fahrenheit has been found satisfactory. Another advantage of this feature of the invention is that it produces more thorough tempering than has heretofore been possible.

Another feature of the invention contemplates arranging the guide for the welt so that while the sewing machine is at rest the welt is out of contact with the moistening liquid and providing means whereby, when the machine is started into operation, the guide is moved into a position in which the welt is-immersed and, when the machine is stopped, the guide is returned to its position in which the welt-is not immersed. Broadly considered, this feature of the invention may be embodied in any suitable construction, but preferably connections are provided whereby the welt guide is actuated from the cam shaft of the machine. The operator is thus relieved of the care and labor of moving the welt guide and the welt guide is moved with certainty toa position in which it is entirely out of contact with the moistening liquid as the machine comes to rest. In the machine hereinafter described, these connections remain at rest while the machine is in operation but are actuated when the cam shaft is turned in one direction at the beginning of the sewing operation and are again actuated when the cam shaft is turned in the other direction at the end of the sewing operation.

Another feature of the invention consists of means for varying the period of immersion of the welt in order to meet the varying requirements of different sizes of welting, heavy welting requiring a longer period of immersion than light welting. This feature, in its preferred form, consists of means for varying the angle of the welt to the moistening liquid comprising a vertically adjustable guide for the welt positioned between the immersion point and the work.

Other features of the invention consist in the provision of means for holding the welt against return movement toward the receptacle, an improved mcans for supporting the moistening receptacle above the machine table, and in the constructions, arrangements and combinations of parts hereinafter described and claimed, the advantages of which will be readily understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

In the drawings illustrating the invention in its preferred form, Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a welt shoe sewing machine having the devices of equally distant from each other.

the invention applied thereto, so much only of the sewing machine being illustrated as is necessary to show the connection of the invention therewith; Fig. 2 is a view of certain portions of Fig. l in side elevation on a larger scale; Fig. 3 is an elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 2 looking from the right; Fig. 4. is a plan View, partly broken away, showing the moistening devices attached to the machine table; Fig. 5 is a side elevation of one of the inter-changeable welt guides with the welt threaded therethrough; Fig. 6 is a vertical section taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 2; and Fig. 7 is a side view of a portion of the welt guide lifting means looking fromthe left of the machine as illustrated in Fig. l.

The drawings show a typical welt sewing machine such as is shown and described in U. S. Letters Patent No. 1,076,878 issued on October 28, 1913 to Andrew Eppler for Sewing machine, to which patent reference may be had for a specific description of all parts not referred to and described hereinafter. Thisbmachine is equipped with the usual and well-known stitch-forming instrumentalities common to machines of this type,, receiving actuation through the usual means.

The welt wetting or tempering devices of the presentinvention include a receptacle 8 for the moistening o=r tempering medium, usually water, adapted to be supported above the table 9 pro-- vided in connection with the pedestal 10 which supports the sewing head of the machine. The receptacle 8 is positioned above the table 9 by means of the post 12, sufficient space being allowed between the receptacle and the table to give the operator a clear view of the-welt as it approaches the receptacle 8. The post 12 is supported by a discoidal member 14 which rests upon the table 9, a reduced lower portion of the post passing through the discoidal member 14 and the table 9. The reduced lower portion of the post 12 forms a shoulder with the upper portion thereof, which shoulder is seated upon the discoidal member 14. The discoidal member 14; is made convex on its under surface to permit angular adjustment of the post 12. To the same end, the hole 15 in the table 9 through which the reduced portion of the post 12 projects is made somewhat larger than said post. The angular adjustment of the post 12 is effected by means of three screws 16 positioned in three vertical holes drilled and tapped near the periphery of the discoidal member 14 and positioned equally distant from the center of the discoidal member and The screws 16 are secured in the desired position by means of the lock nuts 18 threaded thereto. The post 12 is provided with a clamping means consisting of a nut 20 threaded to the lower extremity of the post and adapted to engage a washer 22 which bears upon the under side of the table 9. The receptacle 8 is removably secured to the post 12 at or near its upper end by means of the clamping screw 24, which passes freely through a lateral extension 26 of the receptacle 8 forming one member of a split clamp, and is threaded into the lateral extension 28-forming the other member of the clamp. An auxiliary support 30 is positioned to support the container 32, said auxiliary support consisting of a vertical post having a horizontal portion 34 passed through a hole in a lateral extension of the receptacle 8 and secured therein by the set screw 36.

The levelling of the moistening liquid in the receptacle Bis efiected by mounting the post.l2

loosely in the table 9 and then bringing the grooves in the lateral extensions 26 and 28 of the receptacle 8 into sliding engagement with the post 12 and lowering the receptacle 8 until the auxiliary support 30 rests upon the table 9. The receptacle 8 is then manipulated by hand until the desired level of the moistening liquid is obtained and then the clamping screw 24 istightened to secure the receptacle to the post 12 and. the adjusting screws 16 are brought into engagement with the table 8 and the nut 20 is tightened in order to maintain the post 12 in the desired position. After the desired level of the moistening liquid has once been secured, no further adjustment shouldbe required unless the position of the sewing machine is changed. The moistening liquid is delivered to the receptacle 8 from the container 32 which is in the form of an inverted bottle as in the machine of applicants patexit, and the liquid is maintained at a constant level in the receptacle 8 by means of-theusual barometric feed. The moistening liquid passes from the container 32 to the receptacle 8 through a-duct 38. Means for varying the level ofthe rncistening liquid in the receptacle 8 consists of adjustable supports for the container 32. These adjustable supports are three in number and consist of the screws to threaded to tapped holes in the lower portion of the frame 42 which isshaped to fit the lower end of the container. The screws to have recesses formed in the inner ends thereof into which recesses plugs 44 made of leather or fiber are fitted, upon which plugs the container 32 is supported. By varying the position of the screws 40, the vertical position of the container 32 is likewise varied, thus varying the level of the moistening liquid in the receptacle 8. The

screws are secured in the desired position by means of lock nuts 46. In order to evenly support the weight of the container 32, the supporting screws 40 are positioned equally distant from the center of the container and equally distant from each other. The container is supported laterally by means of three screws 48 threaded to too its

rear

tapped holes in the supporting frame 42 near the upper edge thereof and positioned similarly to the supporting screws 40.

Heat is communicated to the moistening liquid by means of the radiator 50 in the form of a steam chest having pipe connections 52 and 54 for the 1 inlet and outlet of the heating medium. The ra-' diator 50 is held in contact with the base of the receptacle 8 by means of screws 51 which are threaded to tapped holes in the base of the receptacle 8. Penetration through the base of the re- 1 ceptacle 8 by the screws 51 is prevented by providing inward extensions 53 of the side of the re ceptacle for the reception of said screws.

Welting is guided to the receptacle 8 and brought into, partial immersion in the moistening 1 liquid therein by means of a welt guide such as that shown at 56 clamped to the welt guide carrier 58. A welt guide consists of an arcuate member 64, T-shaped in cross section, having a depending U bracket 66 formed in one end thereof within which a horizontal roller 68 is rotatably mounted. At the other end of the arcuate member 64 a vertically slidable plate 70 is positioned for sliding engagement in a guideway 72 formed in the member 64. vA slot '74 is provided in the plate '70 through which slot a set screw 76 is passed, which set screw is threaded to a tapped hole in the member 64 and adapted'to secure the plate'ZO in position. Depending from the plate '10 and integraltherewith is a plate 78 which is positioned crosswise of the plate 70. In order to provide for angular adjustment of the Welt with relation to the moistening liquid, the plate 78 has an arcuate slot 80 formed therein which slot is adapted to receive the pin 82 fixed to the plate 84 which plate has a slot 86 through which the welt passes. The slot 86 is of a proper size to provide a free fit for the welt which it is to receive. The plate 84 is secured to the plate 78 and maintained in its adjusted angular position by means of the thumb screw 88 which passes through the arc-uate slot 80 and is threaded to a tapped hole in the plate 84. For the purpose of clamping the welt guide 56 to its carrier 58, a stud 90 is provided which extends laterally from the arcuate member 64 of the welt guide and is adapted to pass between horizontal concentric grooves in the split clamp formed by lateral extensions 92 and 94 of the welt guide carrier 58. A clamping thumb screw 96 passes freely through a vertical hole in the lateral extension 92 and is threaded to a tapped hole in the lateral extension 94.

The welt guide is removably supported on the welt guide carrier by means of the socket for the stud 90 formed by the grooves in split clamp members 92, 94 and by means of a pin 98 projecting from the carrier into engagement with the under side of the laterally projecting flange of the arm 64 of the welt guide, (see Figs. 4 and 5). The socket for the stud 90 and the pin 98 cooperate with the surfaces on the welt guide engaged thereby to position the welt guide in a predetermined vertical horizontal and angular position on the carrier.

The invention contemplates the use of a pluralitycf inter-changeablewelt guides,each adapted to guide a particular size of welting and adapted to engage the carrier 53 alternatively at the same point on the carrier, and to this end are given the same construction and shape at the portion thereof which is to engage the carrier, the engaging members and surfaces of the carrier being complemental to the corresponding engaging members and surfaces of the guides.

It will be noted that the construction and arrangement of a welt guide are such that a piece of welting can be readily threaded through the guide while the guide is removed from the carrier 58. When in operative position above the receptacle 8, the welt leads over the supporting roller 68 and thence in a downwardly direction to the slot 86 in the plate 84, which slot is inclined to the surface of the liquid so that the grooved marginal portion only of the welt is immersed. The welt is thus supported in the welt guide by the roller 68 and by the slot in the plate 84 so that the welt guide can be moved bodily with the welt whenever it is desired to remove one welt guide from operative position over the receptacle 8 and replace it by another threaded guide.

Means for moving a welt guide into and out of its welt moistening position at the beginning and end of the sewing operation respectively comprise the lever 100 fixed to a horizontal shaft 102 which shaft is journaled in a hollow shaft 104 to which is secured a bell crank lever 106. The lever 100 has a slot 108 formed in its upper end, which slot is adapted to engage a pin 110 fixed to the bell crank lever 106. To the shaft 102 a lever 112 is secured, which lever is connected with the welt guide carrier 58 by means of the link 114, the lower end of which is pivotally mounted upon the stud 116 fixed to the welt guide carrier 58.

At the upper end of the bell crank lever 106 an arm 107 is pivotally mounted, the other end of which is provided with bearing surfaces 109 and 111 which are adapted to bear against a disc 113 on the cam shaft 115 of the machine. The disc is provided with an actuating notch 117 which engages the shoulder 118 between the bearing surfaces 109 and 111 at the .beginning and end of the sewing operation, thus actuating the arm 107 and its several connections, namely, the bell crank lever 106, the lever 100, the shaft 102, the lever 112, the link 114 and the welt guide carrier 58. The bearing surfaces 109 and 111 have the same radius of curvature as the disc 113 but are located at different distances from the pivotal connection of the arm 10'? with the lever 106. While the cam shaft is running in one direction, during the sewing operation, one of these bearing surfaces is in contact with the disc 113, as indicated in Fig. '7. At the end of the sewing operation the cam shaft is reversed and during this reverse movement, the arm 10'? is swung upwardly into a position in which the other bearing surface is in engagement with the disc 113, this swinging movement being assisted by the counterbalancing spring 119 coiled about the pivotal connection between the arm 10'? and the lever 106, and having its freeend in engagement with a pin projecting from the arm. While the cam shaft remains stationary, the arm 107 remains in its upper position, and the welt guide is thus not only moved through the connections between the cam shaft and the welt guide to and from a position in which the welt is immersed, but it is securely held from displacement, and while the machine is at rest there is no liability that the welt guide may move downwardly so as to partially immerse the welt.

Means are provided for causing the welt guide to travel in a fixed vertical plane in its movements into and out of the moistening liquid consisting of a non-cylindrical post 120 vertically positioned in a lateral extension 122 of the receptacle 8 which post is adapted to receive the welt guide carrier 58 whichis constructed to permit sliding engagement of the welt guide carrier with the post 120. The post 120 has a reduced lower portion which fits into a vertical hole in the lateral extension 122, said reduced lower portion forming a shoulder with the upper portion of the post, which shoulder is seated upon the lateral extension 122. The post is secured in position by means of the set screw 124. 13L

adapted to engage the shaft 102 and adapted to l i.

be clamped thereto by means of the clamping screw 134 which passes freely through the extension 126 and is threaded to a tapped hole in the extension 128. It is obvious that by turning the lever 112 upon the shaft 102, the vertical position of the welt guide carrier 58 will be changed. It is also obvious that by clamping the lever 112 to the shaft 102 by means of the clamping screw 134, the welt guide carrier 58 may be secured in the desired vertical position. The second and final vertical adjustment of .the welt guide is embodied in the welt guide itself and consists of the plate and the set screw 76. ihe plate 70, as aforesaid, is provided with a slot '74 to permit vertical adjustment thereof, the guideway 72 formed in the welt guide acting as a guiding means to cause the plate '70 to travel in a vertical path. It is obvious that by varying the vertical position of the plate 70, the vertical position of the welt, as it passes through the welt guide, will be correspondingly varied and consequently the degree of immersion of the welt in the moistening liquid will be varied. This second adjustment of the welt guide is provided in order to permit each of the interchangeable welt guides to be vertically adjusted to suit the particular size of welting which it is adapted to receive, and thus to avoid the necessity of adjusting the machine each time a dif- Ierent size of welting is to be moistened. Means for angular adjustment of the Welt is provided consisting of the arcuate slot and the, pin 82 and a thumb screw 88 by means of which the plate 34 is supported in said arcuate slot and held in angular position, as hereinbefore described. The angular position of the welt is varied by moving the pin 82 and thumb screw 88 inthe arcuate slot 80 and the welt is secured in the desired angular position by setting the thumb screw 88. The desired angular adjustment of each of the inter-changeable welt guides having once been secured no further angular adjustinent is required since, as aforesaid, only one style of welting is carried in any one guide.

Means for guiding the welt after the completion of the wetting or tempering operation consists of the roller 136 loosely mounted upon a headed stud 138 which projects from a bracket 14c and is held in place by means of the pin 14.2. The bracket me is provided with a depending cylindrical post 14 1 adjustably mounted in a split clamp formed by two parallel lateral extensions 1&6 and 148 of the receptacle 3. The depending post 144 is secured in its vertical position by means of the clamping screw 150 which passes freely through the lateral extension 14:6 and is threaded to a. tapped hole in the extension 143. The purpose of the vertical adjustment of the roller 136 is to vary the longitudinal angle of the welt with the moistening liquid, thereby varying the period of immersion of the welt to suit the requirements of different sizes of welting, light welting requiring less tempering and therefore being drawn from the moistening liquid at a sharp angle in order to provide a brief period of immersion, and heavy welting requiring more tempering and therefore being drawn from the moistening liquid more gradually in order to increase the period of immersion.

In order to prevent the return of the welt into the moistening liquid after being slackened by the action of the pull-oir illustrated .and described in my co-pending application, a tension roller 152 is provided, which roller is rotatably mounted in the frame 154, which frame is pivotally mounted upon the stud 155 which projects from the bracket 140, and is held in place by the pin 156. The frame 15 1 at one side is formed a bell crank lever 153 which lever has a recess 160 formed in the under surface of its horizontal portion near the end thereof, within which recess the coiled spring 162 is adapted to be seated. The other end of the coiled spring 162 is seated within a recess formed in the hub 16%, formed in the bracket 140. The pressure of the coiled spring 162 will cause'the bell crank lever to rock upon its bearing 155 and carry the tension roller 152 into engagement with the welt as it passes around the roller 136. The pressure of the spring 162 is suflicient' to hold the welt against return movement into the moistening liquid but is not sufficient seriously to impede the movement of the welt into stitching position. The bell crank lever 158 may be moved by hand sufficiently to permit the welt to be threaded between the rollers 136 and 152. i

A feature of the invention consists in the construction of the supporting means for the guide roller 136 and the tension roller 152 which perniits the welt to be inserted laterally between the rollers rather than by threading the welt between the rollers from beneath. This feature of construction consists first, of locating the bracket 1 .0 together with its supporting post 144 and the devices for imparting tension to the roller 152 all at one side of the rollers and secondly, support-- ing the roller 136 upon the bracket 1% and leaving the end of the roller 136 opposite the bracket 140 free to receive the welt.

The welt guides, when not in use, are supported, fully threaded with welts upon the rack 62. This rack consists of a rod bent into a U shape and is arranged so that the two arms of the U which extend parallel to each other afford a firm support for the guides. One arm is arranged slightly below the other so that the guides are supported in an inclined position, the threaded welts passing over the arms of the rack,

clearly shown in Figures 1 and 3. As a convenient means for supporting the rack in the machine, the end of one of the rack arms is re solved in a hole bored in the end of the horizontal portion 34 of the auxiliary support 30. The end of this support is slotted, as indicated at 168' so that the rack can be clamped securely in position by the same set screw 36 which secures the auxiliary support to the receptacle 8.

What is claimed as the invention is:

1. A welt shoe sewing machine having, in combination with the stitch-forming devices and cam shaft of the machine, welt wetting devices including a receptacle for moistening liquid, means for guiding the welt, and connections actuated from the cam shaft for moving the welt guiding means at the beginning and end of the sewing operation respectively to and from a position in which the welt is partially immersed.

2. A welt shoe sewing machine having, in combination with the stitch-forming devices and cam shaft of the machine, welt wetting devices including a receptacle for moistening liquid, means for guiding the welt, and adjustable means actuated from the cam shaft for moving the welt guiding means at the beginning and end of the sewing operation respectively to and from a position in which the welt is partially immersed.

3. A welt shoe sewing machine having, in combination with the stitch-forming devices and cam shaft of the machine, welt wetting devices including a receptacle for moistening liquid, a movable guide for the welt, and connections actuated from the cam shaft for moving the welt guide at the be bination with the stitch-forming devices of the machine, welt wetting devices including a receptacle for moistening liquid, a welt guide carrier provided with welt guide positioning surfaces, adapted to receive any one of a plurality of interchangeable welt guides, each provided with positioning surfaces shaped and located to position each guide alternatively in the same predetermined vertical, horizontal and angular posi- 'ion on the carrier, said welt guide carrier being movable to cause a welt to be partially immersed and to withdraw the welt from immersion.

5. A Welt shoe sewing machine having, in combination with the stitch-forming devices of the machine, welt wetting devices including a receptacle for moistening liquid, a movable guide for the welt, a carrier for moving the welt guide to and from a position in which the welt is partially immersed, cooperating positioning surfaces on the welt guide and carrier shaped and located to position the guide in predetermined vertical, horizontal, and angular position on the carrier whereby a proper replacement of the welt guide after temporary removal from the carrier is insured.

6. A welt shoe sewing machine having, in combination with the stitch-forming devices of the machine, welt wetting devices including a receptacle for moistening liquid and a movable guide for the welt, means for guiding the welt away from the moistening liquid after wetting, comprising a pair of rollers adapted to receive the welt between them from the side thereof and adapted to exert a yielding pressure on the welt to hold it against return movement toward the moistening liquid.

7. A welt shoe sewing machine having, in combination with the stitch-forming devices of the machine, welt wetting devices including a receptacle for moistening liquid, means for guiding the welt into partial immersion therein, and means for varying the duration of the period of immersion comprising a vertically adjustable guide positioned between the immersion point and the work.

8. A welt shoe sewing machine having, in combination with the stitch-forming devices of the machine, welt wetting devices including a receptacle for moistening liquid and means for guiding the welt into partial immersion in the moistening liquid comprising a welt guide carrier, a removable welt guide adapted to be threaded with welt while removed from its carrier, and an additional welt guide fixed to the receptacle and constructed to permit the welt to be threaded thereto by a lateral movement of the welt.

9. A welt shoe sewing machine having, in combination with the stitch-forming devices and table of the machine, welt wetting devices including a receptacle for moistening liquid, and means for removably supporting the receptacle above the machine table with capacity for levelling adjustment comprising a vertical post mounted in the machine table and capable of angular adjustment with said table, and means for removably attaching the receptacle to the post.

10. A welt sewing machine having, in combination with the stitch-forming devices and table of the machine, welt wetting devices including a receptacle for moistening liquid and means for removably supporting the receptacle above the machine table with capacity for leveling adjustment comprising a member convex on its under surface, means for tilting said member, means for clamping said member to the machine table, and means for removably attaching the receptacle to said member.

11. A welt shoe sewing machine having, in combination with the stitch-forming devices of the machine, welt wetting devices including a receptacle for moistening liquid, a movable welt guide carrier and a welt guide mounted on the carrier consisting of a member having supported thereon a plate provided with a welt guiding slot, said plate being vertically and angularly adjustable on said member relatively to the surface of the moistening liquid.

12. A welt shoe sewing machine having, in combination with the stitch-forming devices of the machine, welt wetting devices including a receptacle for moistening liquid, a movable welt guide carrier and a welt guide consisting of a member removably mounted on the carrier provided with a plate having a welt guiding slot angularly disposed with relation to the surface of the moistening liquid, and also provided with a guide for the welt in its passage to the slot.

FRED ASHWORTH. 

